Word of the Week: December 11, 2000 & December 18, 2000
Dirgefully Direct

The word dirge is from the Latin word dirige, which means "Direct!" as an imperative. So how did an order telling someone to direct become the name for a sad song? It turns out that the first word of the first song in the Latin antiphon for the Offices of the Dead is dirige.

An antiphon is a devotional song that involves responses. This particular song started out Dirige, Domine, deus meus, in conspecto tuo viam meam ("Direct, O Lord My God, my way in thy sight"). It was adopted from Psalm 5 in the Vulgate Bible. Because it was the first word in the first song, the word dirige came to be used to refer to the whole service for the dead and also came to be used for any slow, mournful song.

Words of the Week are written by Dr. Jacques A. Bailly.